Unexpectedly
by Scarlett Cherie
Summary: She was Hermione's cousin, but there's something strange about her. She's adopted and has no whereabouts of her lineage but is somehow sorted into the trio's enemies' house. By being behind enemy lines, this is proven to be useful but not without trouble. Also, she leaves Harry with conflicting emotions when he's been pinning after Cho since last year. Sets in OotP
1. Chapter 1

**Why, hello! Welcome to my first story! Well, not necessarily my first. I had another account on this site, but I was dumb enough to make another account with the same email address. Too much of a long story to get into.. Anyways, this story begins in the summer of 1995, just before our favorite characters begins their Fifth Year, so yes, this story will more or less follow the plot line of the fifth book/movie. Fear not, though, because I have several twists and turns to show you.**

**Without further ado, I present to you, _Unexpectedly._ I hope that you enjoy the first chapter. Cheers!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except - !**

**August, 1995**

It was the beginning of August and summer was still in the air. The warmth of the sun's afternoon rays reached every nook and cranny of the Granger household as Hermione was busy cleaning the guest room. She had just finished dusting and changing the bed sheets and was in the middle of straightening a picture frame when her father called out to her.

"Hermione, sweety!"

"Yes, dad?"

"Altaira will be here any minute!"

Her cousin, Altaira, was moving from the States to stay with them. Hermione was excited to be reunited with her dear cousin, but she couldn't help feel terrible that they would meet under such circumstances.

This past July, her Uncle Michael and Aunt Sandra Lane had met a terrible fate in the city of Chicago. There had been many heatwaves with temperatures as high as 106, and they were one of the many who have died against the heat. It pained Hermione that her parents and herself were unable to be with Altaira due to their lack of funds for all three of them to go, however, they were able to send one ticket to her cousin for her to fly over the Atlantic to live with them. They were her only family she had left.

It was nearing five o'clock when the sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house, and Hermione ran for the stairs to meet her cousin.

Before she could reach the bottom of the staircase, she saw that her mother and father were already at the door, greeting their niece and hugging one another.

"Altaira! Oh, it's so nice to see you, dear!"

"It's nice to see you, too, Aunty Jean. You, too, Uncle Robert. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate this."

"Oh, nonsense! We're family!" Her dad noticed Hermione half way down the staircase and waved her over. "Get over here, slowpoke, and greet your cousin."

Hermione smiled at her dad before rushing down the final steps and reaching her cousin. "It's so nice to see you, Altaira," Hermione exclaimed as the two girls hugged. "It's been so long since I've last seen you." And it was fairly obvious. Both girls have been gaining their womanly physique as they continued to grow.

Altaira laughed. "It's only been five years."

"We were only ten when you moved to the States."

"Well I'm back now, cousin dear."

The last part of her sentence ran through her head as Hermione knew fully well why she was here, and she couldn't help but feel grief wash over her. Altaira noticed this and only gave her a smile, though her eyes held sadness in them.

"It's okay. It really is." Hermione only looked at her, unsure of what to say in case she might hurt her feelings.

At this, Altaira closed her eyes and sighed, feeling Hermione's grief and sadness envelope her, but letting it feed to her strength. When she opened her eyes, she placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder and said, "They filled my life with love and happiness. I couldn't want anything more than that. They were real parents to me."

Right. Because Altaira was adopted. She was only three when she was taken to an orphanage. Her mother had died giving birth, and her father... Well, no one was sure how he died, but their deaths had left Altaira all alone.

It wasn't until a couple of months later in late July, a couple, who were unable to conceive a child of their own, came upon the orphanage. They saw a little girl with black hair and grey eyes and adopted her. A week later, Altaira turned four, feeling joy and sadness that someone up there had given her parents but had to lose her own.

The years came and went, and little Altaira was always given the love and care a small child needs. It was during these childhood years that Altaira met Hermione, and the two became the best of friends. The many pictures that their parents had taken of them was proof of their friendship, however, distance was going to test that friendship when work had transferred Altaira's parents to the States. It was the year 1990 when this occurred, but despite the distance, the two families had always visited one another during the summers, allowing their friendship to stay strong, until this past summer when a tragic event occurred. It was one of the hottest summers in the States, and as a result, Altaira was left alone again.

It was sad knowing that Altaira had already been left behind twice, and Hermione couldn't help but also miss her loving relatives. On some days, Hermione would even fear that something may befall upon her parents especially with events taking place in the wizarding world.

Hermione pulled Altaira into another hug, this one lasting a while longer.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Altaira nodded. "I'm sorry, too." And Hermione, as well as her parents who were still present, understood because Altaira's lost parents were also their lost loved ones. Despite the fact that Altaira was not related to them by blood, they still recognize her as family, and as a family, they would get through the grief together.

After a few more moments of silence, the sound of sniffling broke it. "Ah, well, dearies," Jean started, wiping away the few traces of tears that escaped. "I think it's best that we move out of the doorway. Dinner will be ready soon."

They all nodded as they began to move away from the front door, closing it behind them once all of Altaira's luggage was inside. Hermione's mother moved to go to the kitchen after giving Altaira another hug and a peck on her cheek, welcoming her home, her father doing the same as he headed towards the den.

"So shall I show you to your room?" Hermione asked, looking at her cousin, this time with a smile as she grabbed one of two of her cousin's bags.

Altaira returned the smile and made a hand gesture. "Lead the way."

Hermione led her cousin up the stairs and turned right. There were two doors set adjacent to one another, one of the doors already opened. Altaira followed Hermione through the open door to the left, the room Hermione had just been cleaning.

Hermione had set her cousin's luggage at the foot of the bed, taking one last sweep around the room to see if she might have left anything out of place. "I hope the room is to your liking." Hermione said, more so to herself.

Altaira laughed, smiling as she took a look around her cozy, new room. The walls were a light shade of brown with a window with cream colored curtains taking up the majority of the wall before her. On the wall to the right of the window was a queen sized bed, covered with navy blue bed sheets as well as a simple, brown bedside table between the window and the bed. Opposite the bed was a dresser and a desk made of birch wood. Below the bed, there was a cream colored rug, soft to the touch, and on the wall opposite the window, were three picture frames, all of which were scenery.

"It's lovely," Altaira sighed, plopping herself down onto the bed. "I like it." Hermione smiled, joining her onto the bed.

As Hermione settled, Altaira took another look around the room before asking, "So how was school? Meet any guys?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the sudden question. Her fourth year was filled with all sorts of chaos - schoolwork, the Triwizard Tournament, Viktor Krum, Voldemort returning, Cedric Diggory - it was simply chaotic.

"It was quite hectic," Hermione said, although 'hectic' was a bit of an understatement. "There were so many things going on at once, and guys, well, I guess you could say I was a bit involved with someone, but it surely wouldn't last." She had finished the last of her sentence in a rush, which Altaira noticed and laughed. She had been in contact with Viktor Krum during the summer, sending each other letters, letting the other one know how things were going. He had asked once before if she would be able to visit him in Bulgaria, but she had politely declined. Viktor was sweet, but he lived further in the north. Long distance wasn't nearly her thing, but she would still have him as her friend.

Altaira then made gushing noises, reminding Hermione all too much of her noisy roommates, which only made her laugh. "Was it that one boy you had gone to the-"

"Girls, it's time for dinner!"

At this, Hermione jumped off the bed, and Altaira knew that she was trying to avoid her interrogation. "Hermione!" Altaira exclaimed as she followed her out the door and down the stairs. "I didn't even finish questioning you!"

"You barely even started," Hermione laughed, heading towards the dinner table.

"We'll talk later?" And Hermione knew that she had meant about everything, and she knew that Altaira will be doing the same. They had a lot of catching up to do.

Hermione smiled. "Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'll have you guys know that the 1995 Chicago heat wave really did happen. I didn't want to make up some predicament that happened upon Altaira's adoptive parents, so I had just looked up events that had taken place in the year '95 and voila! Still wanna check if I got my facts straight? Feel free to do so.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Miss Altaira and the mere mentions of Michael and Sandra Lane Granger.**

It was mid-morning when both girls were settling down at the kitchen table for breakfast. Hermione's parents had already left for work, but not before leaving a big breakfast laid out onto the table to which the two happily helped themselves to.

During dinner last night, Hermione's mother had prepared a big welcoming feast for Altaira as well as a cake in celebration of her birthday, which had past not too long ago. All throughout the evening, it was just filled with smiles and cheer as they walked down memory lane and shared stories of their own.

Once dinner was finished, Hermione and Altaira had gone back upstairs, only this time, going into Hermione's room. Hermione had let Altaira explore her room, never having gone there since they were kids. It was obvious on how much they have grown by the items Hermione had displayed, and it was a picture of Harry, Ron, and Hermione that began their conversation.

They talked all night about their lives, about their friends, about their school, about Altaira's parents. They had laid on Hermione's bed just talking and laughing and joking about whatever came to mind, catching up as much as they could. For Hermione, apart from Harry and Ron, Altaira was the only closest best girl friend, aside from Ginny, who's becoming to be a good friend. She could share things with Harry and Ron, sure, but there were things that, as a girl, those two wouldn't understand. Altaira was basically a sister to her.

The two sat in silence as they enjoyed their meal with Altaira commenting every now and then how delicious the food was. Set before them was a pile of pancakes along with a bowl of oatmeal, a plate of eggs and bacon, and toast as well as a jug of orange juice and milk. Definitely a wonderful meal to start the day.

Hermione glanced up at Altaira, noticing how comfortable she was sitting crossed legged in her seat. She smiled, knowing that despite the difficulties Altaira had faced, she still had the strength to carry on.

At this time, Altaira noticed Hermione smiling at her and gave her a questioning look. "What's with the smile?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing really," Hermione replied. "I'm just glad that you're well."

Her cousin looked at her with surprise before smiling, understanding what Hermione meant. Losing her mother during her birth, her father to some unknown force, and then her adoptive parents to the Chicago heat, all of these tragic events could've turned Altaira into someone cruel and sadistic. Maybe someone who's always pessimistic. Basically, she could've been someone who isn't as nice and cheerful as she is now.

All of a sudden, there was a tapping noise that sounded throughout the kitchen, and both girls looked to the window to see a small owl hooting excitedly with a letter addressed to Hermione by it's feet.

"An owl?" Altaira looked at it with curiosity as Hermione walked to the window to let the owl in.

"Oh, Pig," Hermione sighed as the hyper owl began to circle around the room. Altaira laughed as she watched Pig did a few tricks around the kitchen before landing onto the table.

"His name is Pig?" Altaira asked as she fed the small bird some toast, feeling it's appreciation when he had leaned into her hand as she petted his head.

Hermione laughed. "Pigwidgeon actually," she replied as she picked up the letter and began to open it. "I've told you about Ron, right? Well his sister, Ginny, named him, and he liked the name immediately. Refused to respond to any other name Ron tried give him." Altaira laughed in response, now turning towards the owl and giving him her full attention.

While Altaira was occupied with Pig, Hermione read through the contents of the letter and found herself growing more worried with each word she read. It was when she gasped that caused Altaira to stop and focus on her cousin, giving her a questioning gaze.

"What's the matter?"

"I…" Hermione read through the contents again before meeting eye contact with Altaira. "I have to leave." Altaira furrowed her eyebrows, unsure about her cousin's sudden reaction. Hermione moved from her spot at the window and began to leave the kitchen area before stopping at the threshold of the kitchen. She turned to look at her cousin, staring at her for awhile before saying, "And I think it's best that you come with me as well."

Altaira's eyebrows shot up as she stared back at Hermione. She had only gotten back to London yesterday, and all of a sudden, she's being told that she had to leave. Why?

As if reading her thoughts, Hermione said, "We need to meet with the others in hiding."

* * *

An hour or so later, the two were at the front of the house with their suitcases at their side. Altaira had not ask any questions, placing her full trust in Hermione's decision on having them leave. They only needed to bring a few necessities, so while Hermione had packed one suitcase of her belongings, Altaira had to decide on what to bring and what to leave in her temporary room. She packed with her a few important documents, a few clothes, and some trinkets that she could never bring herself to part. Some of which were from her adoptive parents - a few pictures and a good luck charm she's always carried with her - and a few that were, supposedly, from her father.

Michael and Sandra Lane, her adoptive parents, had told her briefly that when they had adopted her from the orphanage that the caretaker of the facility had given them three letters. Two that were addressed to Altaira and one to the adoptive parents. The caretaker had said that it was from her father.

Of course by now, Altaira had already opened the letters or at least one of them. In the letter that was written to Michael and Sandra Lane, her father had written saying that they should only be opened at a specific time, a wish that Altaira had fully consented to. Upon reaching the age of ten, that was when she opened her first letter and had discovered a picture of her real father with a tiny version of herself. He had black, curly hair and kind, grey eyes. In the picture, he had been holding her hand with her sitting in his lap, trying to get her to wave at the camera as he looked at the camera with a grand smile. Although she's had a few vague recollections of him, the few that you can somehow recall from when you were young, it gave her a pang of heartache and yet, happiness.

Happiness from knowing that life was good with her father from the few memories she remembered.

Altaira looked to Hermione, who was currently on the phone with her parents. She listened to the conversation as her cousin apologized for their sudden leave, that she had to leave again, telling them that they will be going to Ron's place for the remainder of the break, and then apologized again, all to which her parents had not minded but regretted for not having spent more time with Altaira.

Sighing, Hermione placed the phone back in it's housing when a knock resounded throughout the house. Altaira clasped her hands in front of her, allowing herself to sink deeper into confusion as Hermione opened the front door, greeting the light brown haired, green-eyed visitor.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione exclaimed, giving him a hug. After a moment, she took a step back and looked at him with seriousness. "Is Harry going to be alright?"

The middle-aged man shook his head. "You will learn more once we reach the place." Hermione nodded, biting her lip with worry.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" Lupin asked, facing Altaira with a kind smile as Hermione let him inside the house.

At this, Altaira took a step forward, offering her hand to Lupin who took it. "Altaira Granger," she introduced, sharing a smile of her own. "I'm Hermione's adopted cousin."

Lupin nodded, taking note of her traits and suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Altaira," he said warmly. " I am Remus Lupin. I was formerly a professor at Hermione's school, but now I am just simply a _mister_." He then gave Hermione a look to which she only laughed because both knew that she would always call him by his previous title. "Well, now," he looked between the two girls before setting his eyes on Hermione. "Am I right to assume, and please excuse me if I sound rather rude," he added, looking at Altaira and then the suitcase she had prepared before looking back at Hermione. "That Miss Altaira is quite _aware_ of things?"

Hermione gave a firm nod, glancing at Altaira who returned to being puzzled at the situation but was really patient with the lack of information she's been receiving. "I haven't gotten the chance to explain everything with the short amount of time I was given." Hermione stated, referring to the letter that she had received earlier.

"Well," Lupin sighed. "As long as she's 'tied,' it is a lot safer if she comes with us. You are quite alright with this, Altaira?"

Altaira looked at him for a second before nodding to which Lupin was able to sense that she's been kept in the dark on the situation. At this, he chuckled and told her, "Don't worry. Once we get to headquarters, I'm sure Hermione will be more than happy to fill you in on the details." He then offered both girls a hand. Hermione, realizing what he was going to do, grabbed his hand and picked up her luggage. Altaira, though still a bit lost, followed suit.

Altaira, wanting to at least know where they were going, asked, "Where are we going?"

"12 Grimmauld Place," was the suddenly whispered reply. It was so soft that she almost missed it. She didn't expect for her answer to be so quiet compared to the way they had been speaking to each other earlier, and she instantly knew that it was a secret.

There was a resounding crack as the three of them disappeared.

**I know that there are a lot of holes that need to be filled and don't worry. I plan on filling them up as time goes on.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be longer. I'll probably post it this Friday, so look forward to it. Drop a review and tell me if you like where it's going so far. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**We will now be following Altaira in this chapter for a change, yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for Miss Altaira.**

After the pulling sensation had stopped, Altaira felt her feet against the ground. She opened her eyes to see a line of houses in front of her, majority of which were kept in poor conditions. She then looked around her and noticed that the three of them were hidden in the shadows with no way for the midday sunlight to find them. No way for anyone to see them.

"Where…?" Altaira breathed. She needn't finish her sentence because then her cousin whispered into her ear.

"Do you remember what Professor Lupin said right before we left? Think about it." And she thought about it. _12 Grimmauld Place._ She looked at the houses from left to right, reading the numbers on the homes, and noticed that number 12 was nowhere to be seen. Startled, she counted again. After reaching number 11, she read the next house, expecting it to skip to 13 when she read 12.

Altaira's eyes turned wide. "What? A… charm?"

With this confirmation that she could see the building, Lupin said, "I think it will be best if we went inside one after another. 10-15 minutes between each other." He looked to Hermione. "I think it's best if you go in first and tell the others about Altaira here."

Hermione nodded as she gathered up her suitcase. She turned to leave the two but not before saying, "I'll catch you up to speed, Altaira," and she went to enter the house. Altaira immediately noticed that the other people that were on the street or were looking out the window saw Hermione enter number 12. She watched their expressions change into bewilderment then back to normal as if not having seen Hermione at all.

"The.. charm?" Altaira whispered questioningly to which Lupin muttered, "Yes."

Minutes passed before Altaira felt a tap on her shoulder, followed by Lupin's voice. "Your turn." At this, Altaira picked up luggage. Before leaving the depths of the shadows, she looked back at Lupin, who gave her an encouraging small, letting her know that it's safe.

Altaira stepped out of the shadows and began making her trek across the street and up the stairs, taking note of some broken windows and the smell of rubbish emitting from who knows where. Once she reached the landing of the front door, she began to reach for the doorknob but stopped, unsure if she should knock or just step inside.

Luckily she didn't need to think more about this when the door opened and revealed Hermione, who was waiting for her.

"Altaira," Hermione sighed, ushering her inside and closing the door as she reached for her hand. "Come and meet the others," she said as she began to pull Altaira down the dark hall, a complete contrast to the outside world.

As Altaira was being pulled, she took a look at her surroundings. The wallpaper was peeling, and there were cobwebs covering what could have been a beautiful chandelier, which was shaped like a serpent. There were old portraits that hanged on the wall rather crookedly, lamps on the walls that flickered constantly, and the carpet barely had any threads left.

They had barely gotten to the end of the hall when a plump redheaded woman came through the kitchen. "Ah, so this must be Altaira," the woman greeted warmly as she offered Altaira her hand, which she shook. "My name is Molly Weasley, but Mrs. Weasley will do just fine."

Altaira laughed nervously at the sudden greeting before replying, "Altaira Granger. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What a dear you are." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Now come have some lunch. You can meet everybody else in the kitchen. Leave your suitcase by the stairs, dear. I'll have one of my sons help you with it later." Mrs. Weasley said this as she ushered both girls through the kitchen door.

Upon entering, Altaira was immediately met with a room full of redheads and one lone black haired man amongst the group. Hermione, having already moved to sit down with the group next to who looked to be the youngest son, waved her over and pointed to the seat in front of her.

"Guys," Hermione began as she gestured to her cousin. "This is my cousin, Altaira."

"Altaira Granger," she added, greeting everyone with a smile. "I'm Hermione's adopted cousin."

"Adopted?"

The outburst was followed by a loud smack and cry of pain. "Ow, Mum!"

"That was quite rude, Ron," Mrs. Weasley scolded the boy who sat next to Hermione.

Ron, who was still rubbing his head, looked at her with irritation before it faded into curiosity. "It's just that I heard about you when Hermione told us about her vacations," he said, looking to Altaira. "Except she's never mentioned that you were adopted."

At this, somebody had let out a loud sigh. "Please excuse my rude, idiotic brother," a redheaded girl spoke up. There was a loud outcry from Ron, which the girl ignored. "My name's Ginny, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you," Altaira said with a smile, and Ginny returned it with one of her own.

Ginny then led her around the room to each person as she introduced the others. "This is Fred and George."

"Nice to meet you, Altaira!" Fred piped, shaking her hand.

"And welcome to the family." George finished, taking her hand in his.

She looked at them questioningly. "Family?"

"Why, of course!" George exclaimed. "Hermione's a part of our family, and you're a part of her family."

"Which makes us," Fred gestured at Altaira and himself. "Family!"

Altaira laughed at their explanation and found herself grinning at them, immediately finding herself at home.

Ginny then introduced her to her dad, Arthur Weasley, who greeted her warmly and openly welcomed her, and then to the lone, black haired man.

"Sirius Black," the man introduced, offering her his hand.

Altaira looked at him with curiosity but took his hand in hers nevertheless. She glanced around the room before looking back at him, who looked at her with a questioning gaze, but the question that was behind her lips was lost when she found herself staring into grey eyes.

"Grey eyes," she found herself mumbling.

At this, Sirius looked at her with interest, realizing that he was also looking into grey eyes. They broke eye contact, however, when someone called out to Altaira.

She looked over to the owner of the voice and saw that it was Ron again. Once having her attention, he said, "You must be magic, right? Because Hermione wouldn't have brought just anyone with her." And everybody else in the room knew this because if she wasn't, Hermione would have just left Altaira with her parents back home.

Altaira nodded. "When I was living in the States, I had gone to the sister school of Hogwarts, Libertine, located in the midwest."

"How did you come to be here?" This time the question came from Ginny, everybody all curious to know the reason.

Altaira looked to Hermione, who gave her an encouraging smile, both girls knowing that the whole story was going to come out.

"It's a bit of long story but," Altaira slowly said as Fred and George shifted over a seat to make room for her. "I- My adopted parents passed away this July. In the city that we were living in, Chicago, there were major heat waves, and a lot of people passed away. A lot from heat stroke. My parents were just one of the many." George placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort, and she gave him a smile in thanks before continuing. "Before that, I was in an orphanage here in London. My mother had died giving birth to me, and my father… Well, no one knows the reason."

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Weasley moved over to her, wrapping her into a tight hug. "It must've been hard for you."

Altaira leaned into her embrace and replied, "I've been coping." She then looked up to Hermione, who had unshed tears in her eyes, and saw that Ron had placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hermione and I have," Altaira said. "My adopted parents were Hermione's aunt and uncle." This only made Mrs. Weasley hug her even tighter as she began to rock Altaira from side to side.

At this time, there was a sound of movement at the kitchen entrance, and the group looked to see Lupin, who was leaning on the doorframe, with a look of sorrow.

"My dear," Lupin spoke as he moved towards the group. "We've all faced some form of hardships. We will help you get through it. You and Hermione." He looked from both Altaira and Hermione, who gave him thankful smiles to which he smiled in return.

After a moment, his features changed to a troubled expression. Lupin's eyes swept across the room before they settled on Sirius.

"Tonight, we're getting Harry."

* * *

The sun was slowly setting, and everyone was busy cleaning the house. As they were cleaning, Hermione had told Altaira everything that she knew - the Order, Dumbledore, Voldemort's return. Of course Altaira was aware of the situation in Wizarding London when she was living in the States thanks to the international newsletter she was subscribed to, but she never knew that Hermione was this involved with everything. Just the other night after dinner at her cousin's house when they had talked about their school year, Hermione had told her about the Triwizard Tournament and the return of Voldemort. She had thought the return of the dark wizard to be a hoax when reading it in the international newsletter, but for the news to be real! And now she's pretty much tied to the situation because of her relation with her cousin.

There was tapping on one of the bedroom windows on the second floor, and Ron, who was closest to the sound, went into the room. After a few moments of mumbled conversation between those who were still cleaning, there was a shout from the room Ron was in, which was followed by a loud, shrill voice that drowned out Ron's cries.

_"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!"_

Altaira jumped at the sudden shriek, instantly covering her ears when other voices began to cry out after the shrill voice. She looked to the others to see that they were doing the same, but they had only looked annoyed, signaling Altaira that this has happened more than once.

"Who did it?" Mrs. Weasley yelled over the many voices. She had pulled out her wand, and Altaira saw that she began to stun the portraits, which were the ones who were yelling.

"Ron," came Ginny's yelled reply. "Something happened to him upstairs and he yelled." The yelling had slowly decreased as Mrs. Weasley continued to stun the portraits, allowing the others to uncover their ears.

"I'll go check on him," Hermione said before Mrs. Weasley started her tirade, and she headed upstairs and into the room Ron was in, closing the door behind her.

By now, almost all of the portraits had been quieted except for one life sized portrait in the hall, which was still yelling curses throughout the place.

"Oh, shut up, you." Mrs. Weasley mumbled as she pulled the moth eaten curtains that were hanging on either side of the portrait over it, and the curses had slowly came to a stop. It seems to that the curtains had flown open to reveal the screaming lady because Altaira never noticed the portrait before having thought that the curtains were covering some windows.

"Lovely lady, isn't she?" George said sarcastically as he came up beside her.

Altaira laughed. "Not quite sure about lovely. Who was she anyways?"

"That would be my mother," came a voice behind them, and they turned to see Sirius walking up to them.

Altaira's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Sirius continued, "Along with many other of my relatives, she was very particular about Pureblood superiority, hence her rather _lovely_ nature."

"Ah…" With this information, Altaira put the pieces together and then asked, "You're a pureblood," she blankly stated, and Sirius nodded. "You're not like all your relatives."

Sirius noted that she was quick in her thinking as he chuckled. "I went against everything they believed in."

"And that makes him the best of the Black family," came Fred's voice as he joined them. "Tell me, Sirius. What was it like when your mother kicked you out of the house?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Weasley turned to face him and began to chase after him as he dodged her swings. "You get back to cleaning before I kick you out myself!"

At this time, there was a thud and a muffled cry that came from the second floor again followed by the sound of a door opening. Ron popped his head out of the room and said, "It's Hedwig. She won't stop pecking at our fingers. I bet Harry told her to do this to get us to write."

At the sound of the owl's name, Sirius rushed up the stairs, followed by Mrs. Weasley and everybody else. Once again confused, Altaira was the last to ascend the staircase and followed everybody into the room. Upon entering, she immediately noticed a beautiful, white owl perched on top of the wardrobe who had it's gaze fixed on Ron and Hermione.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Well, it won't take too long for it to heal," she said as she looked over Ron and Hermione's injuries.

"What did Harry say in the letter?" Sirius asked, who was staring at Hedwig.

"He's been wanting to know what's going on, and why we haven't sent him a proper reply," Hermione responded, sounding a bit dejected. "He also wrote a letter for you," and she reached over for a letter that was on the desk and held it out to him.

At this, Sirius broke away from Hedwig's eye contact and walked towards her, opening the letter and reading through it. He sighed.

"What did he say?" Ron asked.

"Basically the same thing," Sirius replied although he sounded downcast.

Everybody noticed this, which led to Altaira asking, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "I just feel like I failed him," and with that, he began moving towards the door before pausing at the threshold. "I'll alert the other members about Hedwig." Then he left.

**I had described Sirius to have black hair because in the book, it describes him as such, therefore.. yeahh. He has black hair here instead of the brown hair he's portrayed with in the movie. Also, you guys have probably noticed by now that the timing of everything is different from the book/movie (i.e. the time of day Harry actually sends Hedwig). These few things I've changed for my benefit… and the fact that I didn't research these details properly.. Heheh. Then in the case of Mary Sue, which an anon had speedily spied, I'd say that Mary Sue appears in a lot of OC/_ pairings. However, there is one specification that I didn't properly include in this story's search content in the beginning because I felt that it would reveal a lot of my planning... I just now added "Adventure" despite the fact that I'm leaning towards something else, but it's still pretty much adventure, heheh. But yeah, Altaira is a bit of a Mary Sue, but not in full blood.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, especially after getting to know Altaira a bit more. Leave a review and tell me what you think. See you soon in the next chapter!**


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